Owen took these photos
Saddle-billed Stork
out of the world
of tribal masks
and dances from the spirit realm
comes an ancestor
tall on thin black legs
with a bright white body
like a spotlight
then a long brilliant bill
orange-red like a night fire
off in the bush
then a shaman’s face
black, bony, banded
with ceremonial pigments
the same fire engine red
but also taxi cab yellow
he stands two hands higher
than the tallest reeds
herky-jerks his way
through the shallows
shaking his magnificent head
like a melodramatic puppet
bends low
comes up awkward
with more fish than he can swallow
manages anyway
ends up with a bream-shaped bulge
in his long smooth neck
when we drive past him the second time
I’m just as awed –
again he appears as
a fierce young warrior
long-limbed
and all adolescent elbows
